WHO: Bridget Grant and Luke Marlow WHEN: January 22 WHERE: Their home SUMMARY: Bridget gets some news, Luke gets a memory, and they both seem to be related. WARNINGS: None
It wasn't as though Bridget had simply woken up that morning and wondered if she was pregnant. No, the thought had been in her mind for nearly a week, maybe a day or two longer. She kept waiting to acknowledge the possibility, though, and it was easy for her to find excuses. The biggest one was that she hadn't been feeling sick, hardly at all. There had been a couple bouts of queasiness, but they were easily explained away by a greasy lunch or waiting too long between meals. If there was one thing Bridget knew about getting pregnant, it was that morning sickness was a Big Deal -- at least, that was what she had learned from sitcoms and movies.
The other thing that should have been a big clue was her missing period. But Bridget had never been super regular, so even that seemed like something she could brush aside. At least, she could brush it aside for a few days. Then a week.
At that point, she had to admit that something was going on.
Bridget had gotten up that morning with every intention to let it be just another day. She had even gotten into DC with her violin, but after spending her entire commute trying desperately to find another explanation for what was going on with her, she found herself steering her car to the nearest Walgreens. One multiple pregnancy test purchase later and she was in her car, driving back to Dunhaven after making a quick call out from work. If this was nothing, she would make her way back to DC and finish the day. And it would be nothing, she told herself. This was just a precaution.
It was not nothing, as it turned out. One, two, and then three pregnancy tests later made that very clear.
Still early enough that Luke hadn't gotten home after his morning shift at the radio station, Bridget abandoned those traitorous sticks and their two lines in the bathroom and fell back into bed. It wasn't that she didn't want to have a baby with Luke. On the contrary, she wanted a whole family with him -- she wouldn't have agreed to marry him if she didn't. But this wasn't part of their plans. They hadn't even been able to pick a day for their wedding yet, other obligations or venues not having availability all getting in the way of their first choices. Having a baby before they got married would be fine, of course, but they hadn't made any plans outside of a vague "sometime in the future". That had been, in Bridget's kind, years from now and not in a handful of months.
Eventually, Bridget got up and changed from her work clothes to something more comfortable as she dedicated herself to a random day off. Still, she found herself sliding back into their bed all too easily as she waited for Luke to come home.
Though Luke had no way of knowing what his fiancee was going through, his own day had been equally though differently an emotional rollercoaster. The dreams, he’d found, had their own way of showing up at the most inopportune of moments and especially when they were the most unexpected. He’d been doing the morning show with Kiera as usual and was mid-rant about the latest topic trending on Twitter when the memory had hit him.
Phillip.
Today was his son’s birthday. And though Luke had never personally met the baby, it felt like his all the same and the simultaneous memory of his first cries and the realization he would only ever hear them in his memories was gutting. He knew he’d zoned out with the memory when he was pulled back into his reality by Kiera’s concerned voice, but he’d pressed on as though nothing had happened. As though nothing had changed.
He hadn’t wanted to worry Bridget with it, not until he was at home and the two weren’t in different cities. So he’d finished his shift and he’d gone for a drive to clear his head. His fingers kept itching to type out a message to Angelina--Angelica--because he knew she’d understand, but he also realistically knew that he was in no position to ask her for comfort, or understanding. He kept driving and, when he realized that Bridget would likely be home and starting to worry about him, he headed home to one person he knew could and would comfort him.
Luke let himself in and quickly noticed the lack of Bridget in the living room, or even the kitchen where she might have been figuring out what they could make for dinner. He found her in the bedroom, curled under the covers, and Luke’s heart squeezed at the sight of her. He toed off his shoes at the foot of the bed and then slid in next to her, letting his arm snake around her middle as he shifted closer. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.
Though Bridget heard the front door open and close, indication enough that Luke was home, she let him make his way to her. Their bed was warm and it was cozy and it would be doubly so if he joined her in it, which was exactly what happened. She wanted to soak in as much warm and cozy as she could, especially with him at her side, before she had to deliver the news of her discovery.
"It's okay," Bridget murmured, raising one of her arms so she could cup Luke's cheek. Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to his lips, then backed up to look at him curiously. "How was your day?"
Luke closed his eyes as he savored the soft kiss, immediately finding refuge in her touch. He hesitated at her question, his thumb circling over her lower back. “It’s better now,” he said honestly. It was why he’d been so certain about marrying her despite his every instinct telling him that he hadn’t deserved the second chance. He felt sure with her, about everything. “Was yours long?”
"A bit," Bridget admitted, because it had to have been obvious enough, given her location. She wasn't against naps or lazing around, but normally that was done on the couch in the living room, somewhere she was always around him in some way. "But," she added with a small smile before repeating, "it's better now."
Bridget reached over him, letting her arm drape over him, her hand mirroring his comforting movements on his back. She didn't like that he'd had a day that would have room to be better, even if it was her presence that made it that way. She also didn't like that she wasn't sure if the news she had to give him would help or hinder that in any way. It was news that she had to tell, though, no matter how unsure she was. "I have something to tell you, though."
“Is it that I’m devilishly handsome and you can’t wait to marry me?” he asked, the grin that had started when she’d repeated his own words back to him spreading. “Because I was hoping for something along those lines.”
Despite herself, Bridget found a smile crossing her face that rivaled Luke's. "I'm pretty sure I tell you that every day," she teased in return, "but it's my favorite thing to say, so I'm okay with repeating myself."
But as quickly as the grin had bloomed across her face, it faded into something a little bit softer and serious. It would be much more fun to joke the night away, but she'd been existing in a state of denial regarding being pregnant for too long now. If she did it any longer, she'd probably end up starting to show and that would definitely raise questions. Besides, she didn't know if she could shoulder this knowledge by herself anymore. Releasing a short breath, she said, "Besides that, though, I sort of realized today that I'm, you know... late. So I took some pregnancy tests and -- " Her voice caught in her throat, making her pause just a breath before finishing, "and they were positive, Luke."
The world seemed to stand still for a few suspended moments. Luke breathed in, her words finding spaces in his thoughts to settle in, and he breathed out. He blinked, momentarily at a loss for words as he continued to process what Bridget was saying. She was saying what he thought she was saying, wasn’t she?
“You’re--” he hesitated, tilting his head toward her so that there could be no mistake that he was there with her, listening and processing and thinking. “You’re pregnant?”
Bridget nodded, biting down lightly on her lower lip as she watched him, trying to take in his reaction. After a brief moment stretched between them, she confirmed out loud, "I'm pregnant."
Luke was a myriad of emotions and it was impossible to latch onto one over the other. He was terrified and worried and overwhelmed. He was heartsick for the son he had only just remembered while anxious for the child he would actually know. But more than anything else, he was consumed with Bridget. He could work through where his own head was, but he needed to know where Bridget’s was first.
“Is this-- are you okay?” he asked, pulling his arm from around her so that he could press his palm to her cheek, thumb grazing across her skin. “Are you...is there anything I can do for you?”
Mimicking him, Bridget took her own arm from around Luke, raising her hand to circle her fingers around his wrist. She nodded, turning her face just enough to press a soft kiss to his palm -- partially because she just needed that, but also because she wanted to provide him as much comfort as she could, verbally and nonverbally. She'd had several hours to get used to what was happening. That wasn't nearly enough, really, but it was more than his handful of minutes and she wanted to make it easier on him.
"I'm okay," Bridget confirmed with a nod. "Honestly, just you being here is what I needed." She paused just a moment, then asked, "What about you? Are you okay?"
"I'm not going anywhere," Luke replied. He'd meant it when he put that ring on her finger and no matter how unplanned or unexpected this was, it changed nothing. "I'm--" he started, searching for the right words, "--honestly I'm not sure. I...had another dream today and I don't know how much of what I'm feeling is because of that, and how much is this. I remembered Phillip. The day he was born. Maybe the universe thought the timing was right for me to remember him, I don't know. But I know that this is going to be okay because we're in it together. I don't know if I'll be any good at this, or if I'll make mistakes, but I know that I'm going to spend every day for the rest of our lives trying to make the best choices for you, for us, and for our baby. I'm not going anywhere. We're okay."
A sense of unexpected relief washed over Bridget. Though she hadn't actually expected Luke to be anything other than supportive -- she knew him and she wouldn't have agreed to marry him if she thought he was that sort of person -- the situation was so outside of any experience she'd ever had before. There was no comparison. And, while she had known they would have options, she also had known by the time she'd gotten home that she would want to keep any potential baby that might have been brewing within her. Knowing for sure that he was by her side for it, well. She appreciated it.
Leaning towards him, Bridget did the only thing she could think of in that moment, letting her actions speak as she kissed him. Her heart ached for him and his dreams, especially knowing the tragedy that would eventually come with his son. "I love you," she murmured after breaking the kiss. "We're in this together. We're going to be okay, because we have each other to figure this all out with."